Just When You Thought You Heard It All News (9-21-2013)

There has never been a more fitting, or inspirational story for "Just When You Thought You Heard It All News".

This is proof that all things are possible.

In the game of blind baseball, (yes, you read this right), blind baseball, players use their sense of sound to make up for their lack of sight. They play the game known as Beep baseball with an oversized softball that beeps and bases that buzz. The National Beep Baseball Association was founded in 1975. Teams have been formed nationwide and compete annually in a World Series. In east Atlanta, a team called the Atlanta Eclipse plays at a local park. Players wear blindfolds to ensure fairness since each person has a varying degree of blindness. The pitcher and the catcher are sighted and play on the same team as the batter. On a hit, the batter runs toward the buzz of either the first or third base, which is decided by an official. There is no second base. A run is scored if the batter tags the base before the fielder can pick up the ball; otherwise the batter is out. In this adapted version of America's pastime, cheering is not permitted until the play is over. For the players, the game is about much more than physical activity; It helps them cope with the challenges of being blind. 

After this season they will began training for their toughest challenge yet. Blind Auto Racing!

Glen James, a homeless Boston man, reportedly found a backpack last Saturday at a shopping mall containing $42,000 in cash and traveler’s checks, but instead of keeping it, James flagged down a patrol car so that it could be returned to its rightful owner........

I have a home a nice home, and I have a decent income. But I also have a wife and 3 children who love to eat good food. Had it been me who found the money, I would have said "thank you Jesus". Then I would have went home and told my wife who would have said the exact same thing!

Now the Good Samaritan whose noble words include “even if I were desperate for money, I would not have kept even a penny”  is being honored by his town for his honesty, according to Boston Magazine. 

Hmmm.....Aren't homeless people by definition, desperate for money?

An unnamed Chinese student who was visiting a Boston friend reportedly went to a nearby Best Buy store at the mall when he discovered that his backpack was missing. The student immediately asked the store to report the incident to police.

The backpack contained $2,400 in cash and $39,500 in AmEx traveler’s checks, in addition to Chinese passports and personal documents.

When James handed over the bag to the officers, they in turn took it down to a nearby police precinct, and it remained there until its owner could confirm that it belonged to him.

On Monday, James was honored by Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis and thanked for an “extraordinary show of character and honesty.”  But even though James is homeless, he is reportedly not looking to profit from his honest deed, stating during his City Hall ceremony, “Even if I were desperate for money, I would not have kept even a…penny of the money I found. I am extremely religious God has always very well looked after me.”

James, who does not want to reveal his age, also made it clear that he does not want to burden anyone, because he receives help from the shelter where he stays and food stamps. He also reportedly makes ends meet by panhandling on the streets of Boston.

Consequently, James thanked the strangers on the streets who have given him spare change throughout the years.  “It’s just nice to have some money in one’s pocket so that as a homeless man I don’t feel absolutely broke all the time.”

James’ act of honesty reportedly moved Ethan Whittington so much that he decided to start a crowdsourcing fund-raising page for him on GoFundMe.com. Whittington hopes that there are others who will also be moved by James’ honorable act and donate money to help him get back on track.

James once worked as a file clerk at a Boston courthouse but lost his job after 13 years due to tension with his boss.

In 2005, James became homeless as a result of the job loss.

In addition, James claims that he suffers from an inner ear disorder, Meniere’s disease, which brings on bouts of vertigo that make it difficult for him to hold down a steady job.

Meanwhile, Whittington’s fund-raising effort hopes to raise some $50,000.  At press time thus far, a whopping $17,732 has been raised.

He is being blessed for being a blessing.

This last story takes the phrase "dream job" to a whole new level.

 Are you a lazy person who loves to lie in bed all day? Then you might be a perfect candidate for a certain job at NASA. 

NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, is looking to pay volunteers $10,000 to lie in bed for 70 days in order to study the effects of “microgravity” on the human body.

I'd do it for free.........on second thought, I could use $10,000

Simply put, microgravity is a very small force of gravity that makes astronauts bounce around seemingly weightlessly in space. It’s also the state of the body when it’s in freefall. Since astronauts spend months at a time in space, scientists are continually studying how microgravity affects the human body.  

Could this be the greatest job ever created? Hmmm, only if you were working for Oprah. Buf this one comes close. All one needs is a TV, Video Games, Computer, and some adult material and you’re set for a full year, 2 months is cake.

Adult material?! Nah, there's nothing like the real thing. Now, if they allowed wives to participate they'd  be on to something.

The experiment is twofold: After participants are screened for health (they must be between the ages of 24 and 55 and can’t smoke, take medications, use hormones, or be pregnant or menopausal), they move into the Johnson Space Center for two weeks; there, they carry out daily activities so that scientists can observe their bodies in normal conditions. 

Then they move to NASA’s Flight Analogs Research Unit (FARU) at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas, where they lie in a bed for 70 days with their body positioned so that they’re tilted downward (head lower than feet), which mimics the physiological effects of microgravity. 

Next comes the recovery period. For the following two weeks, people are allowed to stand up and slowly move around the facility and resume normal activity, and then go back to life.

PR